Introspection
by jtav
Summary: Miranda reminisces. Liara has an offer.


Monitors everywhere. The scale of the Show Broker's operation astonishes Miranda. He had operatives on every settled world. Nothing happened without his knowledge. Lines of text race past, too fast for her to read, as those operatives send status reports. An entire galaxy's worth of information right here at her fingertips. Miranda licks her lips. Such an empire was wasted on the yahg. He cared for nothing but preserving the status quo and his own wealth and power. With these resources, he could have changed the galaxy, forced the galaxy to progress, instead of maintaining a stalemate that ensured the Council races stagnated. _I could have done better. I wouldn't have squandered all this._

But these resources don't belong to the yahg anymore.

She feels a pair of slender arms encircle her waist. "What do you think of it?" Liara murmurs into her ear as she pulls Miranda against her.

Miranda shivers. "Remarkable," she whispers and means more than the operation. Liara smells of citrus and coffee. The physical part of their relationship is still new enough that the scent is nearly enough to undo Miranda. She wonders how long it will take for her to become accustomed to the fact that Liara T'Soni wants her. Miranda was infatuated with her almost from the moment they met. It wasn't just that she was beautiful. Miranda could have found beauty anywhere. Liara risked her life to recover the corpse of her former commanding officer. Miranda wanted a bit of that devotion for herself, wanted someone willing to sacrifice for her. She wrote it off as a pointless infatuation. It wasn't like they would ever see each other again.

And then Liara wrote to her. Miranda's still not sure how she managed to find the address. Liara needed some advice about a client who wouldn't pay. Miranda had written back. To see beautiful, brilliant Liara T'Soni crushed by the information business was an indignity not to be borne. So she'd helped. Liara had written back, requesting more advice. Another letter. Then Another. Slowly, little intimacies crept into their correspondence like ivy up a wall. Liara told her about the last fight she'd had with her mother. Miranda told her about her first mission with Cerberus, with the classified details carefully omitted. The letters became her link to the world beyond Lazarus Station. All while she was pouring out her knowledge of the information business in a desperate bid to keep Liara alive.

She didn't expect Liara to embrace her after meeting again. Didn't expect her fingers—still rough and calloused after two years away from dig sites—to trail up Miranda's throat. Miranda certainly didn't expect Liara to kiss her. She clung to the asari like a drowning woman. For a little while, it didn't even matter that she was probably going to die in a few weeks.

Miranda didn't die. She supposes her resignation from Cerberus is a kind of death, but she isn't inclined to think of it in such poetic terms. She doesn't really know what she'll do with herself now, unless she counts visiting the new Shadow Broker and plotting ways to get her into bed. Part of her thinks this is too good to be true. Liara wanting her is too much of a favor from the universe for it to be permanent. She'll wake up some day and find that this is all part of some scheme by someone who wants something from her, like every other gift she's gotten in her life. Or Liara will tire of her.

"Miranda, are you listening to me?" Liara is more amused than impatient.

Miranda turns in the embrace to look at her. "Sorry. Just thinking. You were saying?"

"I said the organization is more complex than I ever dreamed. I think I'm going to need more help besides Feron. Someone I can trust. Someone who will help me and run things the way they need to be run."

Miranda manages a half smile. "Look for a nonviolent krogan while you're at it."

"I—I have someone in mind." She steps back and takes Miranda's hands in hers. Miranda can feel the heat even through her gloves. "The old Broker wanted to recruit you. I think he was right in that much."

Miranda can't quite process what Liara is saying. "I'd never have worked for him. No vision. I need something to fight for. Not just money."

"And helping me stop the Reapers? Is that a big enough cause for you?" Her expression softens a bit. "You're the only reason I'm here today. I think the two of us together could do something great. I've already spoken to Shepard. She's fine with it." Liara smiles again. "She said something about not wanting to get in the way of a pair of love birds."

And then Miranda gets it. "We could change the galaxy with what we have here."

"We could make it so much better than it was before, even beyond stopping the Reapers." Miranda can see her own passion reflected in Liara's eyes. Finally, she has a kindred spirit, not just a lover. "So, will you?"

Miranda kisses her by way of answer. There are about a thousand ways this can go wrong. But if she's going to get her heart broken, it might as well be while she's trying to do something glorious. She has chance, here and now, to do more than she ever could with Cerberus, and to do it with the person who has utterly captivated her. Even Miranda isn't immune to temptation.

"Come on," she says when the kiss is over, "we have work to do."


End file.
